Tag Archives: Affordable Housing

Housing

Cortes Island Opts in to BC Short Term Rental Act; Quadra Considering

Effective May 1, 2024, all BC communities with a population over 10,000 have to limit short term rentals to the host’s principle residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit. Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay and Powell River are all on the list of  64 communities where this applies. Cortes Island is too small to be on that list, but has chosen to opt in, and Quadra Island is considering the idea. 

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Housing

Housing Society To Offer Event Series

From March through July of this year, Cortes Housing Society — in partnership with FolkU — is presenting a series of monthly forums featuring guest speakers and community discussion. These forums will address the vexed issue of housing — both price and availability — which remains a serious problem for the island.

The invited speakers have expertise in various aspects of this problem, and some will be sharing results from successful projects in other communities. Cortes Currents interviewed Sadhu Aufochs Johnston, executive director of the Housing Society, to find out more about this event series.

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Community

EXCLUSIVE: Hong Kong asylum applicants suddenly shun Canada. What’s happening?

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Editor’s note: There are very few Chinese ‘immigrants’ in North Vancouver Island. Most new Canadians appear to be attracted to more urban areas of British Columbia, and our area is primarily populated by descendants of earlier ‘settlers.’ Most of the foreign born residents in our area reached Canada sometime prior to 1980. The 2021 census reports some Chinese immigrants in Comox (100), Courtenay (80), Powell River (55) and Campbell River (50). There were no Chinese immigrants reported on Cortes Island or in Area C. 

The vast majority of people who ‘look Chinese’ in our area, are actually Canadians. The numbers of people who stated their ethnic origin is Chinese are: in the Comox Valley (795), Courtenay (460), Campbell River (310), Powell River (200) and Area C (20). While no of Chinese ancestry was reported on Cortes Island, there could be 1 or 2 as Statistics Canada rounds numbers off to the closest multiple of 5.

One of the hindrances to immigration for Hong Kong mentioned below, is that it is a Cantonese speaking area and when Canadians speak a Chinese language it is usually Mandarin. This is not true of our area. Only 5 of the 20 people of Chinese origin in Area C speak a Chinese language: Cantonese. There are more Cantonese speakers than Mandarin in Comox (180 vs 110) and Campbell River (80 vs 65). There are almost equal numbers of people speaking these languages in Courtenay (110 vs 115). Powell River is the only place where Mandarin was used by the vast majority of people still speaking a Chinese language (60 vs 30).

Two other hindrances to immigration: difficulty finding high-quality work and lack of affordable housing.

By William Koblensky Varela, New Canadian Media, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Hongkongers have largely stopped applying for Canadian work and study permits under a policy for those fleeing the Beijing-imposed national security law, previously unpublished data from Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows.

Thousands of people from Hong Kong fled to Canada after China cracked down on dissent and free speech in the former British colony by imposing the national security law in 2020. Since then, many pro-democracy activists have been silenced, civil society groups have been shut down and outspoken media outlets have been closed.

However, a tough job market for new immigrants, housing challenges, competition from the UK and Taiwan, as well as a downturn in the Hong Kong economy could all be behind the sudden slowdown in asylum applications to Canada, according to expert opinion.

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Energy

The door to B.C.’s liquefied natural gas export sector is about to open. Here’s what you need to know

Editor’s note: In February 2013, the Christy Clark government proclaimed “LNG development is poised to trigger approximately $1 trillion in cumulative GDP within British Columbia over the next 30 years.” Eleven years later, the list of ‘proposed or under construction projects’ has shrunk from 20 to 7. The only local proposal, Discovery LNG in Campbell River, is no longer on the list. 

According to Natural Resources Canada, “LNG Canada, in Kitimat, BC, will be Canada’s first large-scale LNG export facility once complete, aiming for first exports by 2025. The majority of the other projects target beginning operations between 2027 and 2030.”

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

As Teresa Waddington proudly proclaimed LNG Canada is on track to wrap up construction in Kitimat, B.C., this year, the room full of hundreds of attendees at the BC Natural Resources Forum erupted in cheers.

“We are 90 per cent complete, bringing Canada’s first LNG export facility to life,” she said in mid-January, at the annual gathering of industry bigwigs and hopefuls, First Nations leaders, provincial and federal politicians and civil servants who had travelled from around the province to Prince George for the event.

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Politics

Mark Vonesch’s First Year In Office: Things ‘Accomplished’ and ‘In Process’

Mark Vonesch is very passionate about Cortes Island and his activities as Regional Director. If this were a video, rather than a radio broadcast, you would see this it in his facial expressions. There is a hint of this passion in the words he chose and the tone of his voice. 

Cortes Currents asked him for a recap of this past year and what to expect going forward into 2024.  

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